No, not planks—I’m a personal trainer and these are the three core moves I always recommend for beginners

White man blue tshirt grey joggers performing bird dog exercise inside red curtains behind.

Planks are a great bodyweight exercise for improving core strength and stability, but many of my new personal training clients struggle with them. They find it hard to engage the core and end up arching their back, which can lead to pain or injury.

That’s why I save planks for later, when we’ve built a more solid foundation of core strength. Instead I start with three other bodyweight moves that are simple but effective, especially for beginners. The specific positions of these moves create maximum opportunity to activate the core.